Iran renews Oman ties for peace talks with Washington

New Delhi: Iran has renewed its engagement with Oman to assist in successfully concluding peace talks with the United States.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi flew straight to Muscat from Islamabad on Saturday to meet senior Omani officials and pass on messages to the Trump administration. This followed no visible breakthrough in Araghchi's talks with Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and senior officials, it is learnt. Iran could now prefer Oman as a more neutral venue for the talks.

On Sunday, Iran's foreign minister returned to Islamabad for more consultations as international mediators tried to keep peace talks on track despite US President Donald Trump calling off his envoys' planned trip.


According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, Araghchi was to sit down with Pakistani officials to convey "Iran's positions and views on the framework of any understanding to completely end the war". Somes sources described Araghchi's trip as a short transit stop before his departure to Russia.

Pakistan field marshal Asim Munir also reportedly visited Oman over the weekend in a bid to restart talks between the US and Iran. Muscat has for years acted as a neutral mediator between Washington and Tehran. In fact, the US had launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, at a time when Oman was mediating between the two sides and claimed that a breakthrough was on the horizon.

Experts on West Asian affairs alleged that the Islamabad talks are a ploy by Pakistan to help the US mobilise the latter's military in the region.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Sunday eased some restrictions, allowing selective movement of heavy traffic in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as there was no immediate possibility of another round of US-Iran talks. Pakistan had implemented strict security measures in anticipation of the second round of talks between the US and Iran. More than 10,000 security personnel were deployed, and both Islamabad and Rawalpindi were shut down to manage heavy traffic since last Sunday.

- With agency inputs